LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Anthony Symons <ant@sa.pracom.com.au>
  To  : Dale Long <dalel@picknowl.com.au>
  Date: 30 May 2002 11:52:26 +0930

Re: Linux on Xbox (or playstation)

On Thu, 2002-05-30 at 11:24, Dale Long wrote:
> Thiele, Nicholas Wayne - THINW002 wrote:
> > I agree, I'd also rather support a company that officially supports Linux and
> > show them that there is a market for this.  If you do (or anyone on the list)
> > get a Linux kit let us know how you find it, I am sure everyone will be
> > interested. 

I'd buy one if it didnt cost so damn much :( 
 
> Is it possible that Sony are only using 'the current perceived rage' 
> (ie: Linux) to further their 'grand scheme' and market penetration? And 
> then ultimately not honour the 'Linux spirit', by not allowing any 
> useful development for PS2 Linux? That is, using it as just a marketing 
> ploy with no real delivery. Ultimately, OSS games on Linux would 

I'd say unlikely. 

from <http://www.devolution.com/~slouken/Maelstrom/index.html>;

"For Sony, there is no plan to make this kit a significant revenue
source. The company won't be advertising it through the usual methods
since it doesn't want to confuse consumers who have no interest in Linux
or programming. "We're definitely not trying to enter the desktop PC
market [with the Linux PS2 kit]," says Ewen, who points out that Sony
already sells its own brand of PCs."

> potentially impair the market for commercial DMCA copy protected 
> software. Is it possible to have both an open platform run in a useful 
> manner on the PS2 (or Xbox etc...) AND control the market and restrict 
> copying and piracy?

I guess you'd need the linux kit to run linux games (well, im sure
someone has worked out how to master a cd that will work with a mod
chip) but out of the box:

"Those interested in buying and playing around with the PS2 Linux kit
should be aware of some things before getting it: Access to the PS2's
DVD drive is restricted so that only official PlayStation discs can be
read; and CD-Rs and DVD-R discs won't work in the drive. However, the
USB ports on the PS2 are standard, so some USB external CD and DVD drive
models that are supported under Linux could be used with this kit."

"The documentation with this kit will give all the same information
about the PS2 hardware that Sony provides its licensed game developers
(but it won't give access to the system's anti-piracy mechanisms). This
will include full details on the PS2's proprietary Emotion Engine core
instruction set, the Graphic Synthesizer, and the Vector Processing
Units."

They say it would be easy to port anything from the pc that doesnt
require an x86 process to ps2, but I'd rather do it the other way -
write cool ps2 games on the ps2 then port them back to the pc :)

Ant


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